[em-bee]

something has to give, but considering this as people getting screwed feels like a NIMBY attitude.

as an active biker, i'd rather bike trails are converted to rails than no rails at all.

besides, especially for those rails in remote areas, tracks require maintenance roads and there is no reason those couldn't double as bike paths as well.

i forsee a future where railtracks and bike paths live side by side, away from car traffic.

bike paths don't need much space. for a long distance trail, a 1m wide path is enough. should not be to hard to find space for that.

[ghaff]

My comment was really in the context of the upthread Brunswick to Augusta discussion that would go through at least the outskirts of a small city. In that context, if you decide to put a railroad back in safety and other concerns probably would preclude a rail trail in the same location--but maybe not. The issue with rail trails in very remote areas is probably more about low utilization than right of ways. (Which is why you see that this trail isn't actually planned in a big chunk of the West.) No one is building new rail routes in Wyoming in any case.